The present invention relates to a rear vehicle-body structure of a vehicle which comprises a suspension housing.
There is a case where at a vehicle-body rear portion is provided a suspension housing for supporting an upper end portion of a damper of a suspension between a side frame extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction and a wheel house housing a rear wheel. In this type of vehicle-body structure, a load inputted to the suspension housing from the damper during bumping of the rear wheel is dispersed to respective portions of the vehicle-body rear portion by way of the side frame and the wheel house.
In a case where the damper of the suspension which comprises a cylinder connected to a wheel side and a piston rod connected to a vehicle-body side is used, a tubal bump stopper which is made of urethane or rubber may be fitted to an outer periphery of the piston rod at an upward side of the cylinder. In this case, since the bump stopper is interposed between the cylinder and the vehicle body, it is avoided that the cylinder directly hits against the vehicle body when the damper contracts greatly, so that hitting impact can be reduced.
In general, since this type of suspension is provided with a tubal bump-stopper housing for housing the bump stopper, it is suppressed that foreign substances or water come in, so that the bump stopper and the damper can be protected.
In a case where this type of suspension is attached to a support face portion of the above-described suspension housing, a vertical wall portion which extends downward from an inward-side edge portion, in a vehicle width direction, of the support face portion of the suspension housing is provided to be spaced, toward an inside of a cabin, apart from the bump-stopper housing of the suspension. Accordingly, the vertical wall portion of the suspension housing comes into a space of the cabin, such as a baggage-room space which is provided at the vehicle-body rear portion, greatly in accordance with a position, in the vehicle width direction, of the damper or an inclination of the damper, so that the cabin space may be reduced.
Meanwhile, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-137140, there is a case where the suspension is supported between the side frame and the wheel house, not providing the suspension housing.
In a vehicle-body structure of the above-described patent document, a lower end portion of a bump-stopper housing of a suspension is fixed to a bracket which is arranged adjacently to an outward-side, in the vehicle width direction, of a side frame along a floor panel, and the bump stopper housing is provided to be exposed to the cabin space. Further, a spring is provided coaxially with the damper in this suspension, and an upper end portion of the spring is supported at a spring seat which is provided at the lower end portion of the bump-stopper housing in this suspension.
In the vehicle-body structure disclosed in the above-described patent document, however, loads inputted from the damper and the spring of the suspension easily concentrate on the above-described bracket, so that some reinforcing countermeasures, such as making the bracket of a thick member, may be required.